Back to studies – with a difference

For the first time in almost three months, secondary schools across the country reopened for face-to-face instruction as students prepare to take the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

However, due to a slew of COVID-19 restrictions, it was not business as usual.

Fourth, fifth and six form students filed into their institutions of learning in an environment that required students, teachers and peers to interact from a distance of at least six feet.

Large signs have been posted around the schools reminding students to wear their masks, have their temperatures taken, among other protocols.

In preparation for the sessions, secondary school principals were expected to organize half-day class schedules to minimize the numbers on the school plant at any one time and to facilitate adequate sanitizing of classrooms.

In some cases, just six students will be allowed to sit in a room together and no more than three students will be permitted to use a bathroom at once.

“It has definitely been a challenge. First of all we are trying to complete our SBAs and there are deadlines to submit the marks. What we were really trying to do once we were given the go ahead to start our SBA work was to make sure that the school was clean first of all and that has taken a bit of time,” revealed Combermere School Principal Joseph Maynard.

He added that just six Visual Arts students were required to attend on Monday to complete their SBA work. But by Tuesday, the numbers are expected to exceed 30.

“So far things have been very quiet. The children have come and the teachers are going through the paces with them. We have not had any hiccups at all. We are supposed to have no more than 50 students on the compound on any given day… and we will ensure that they are spread across the compound.

Barbados TODAY visited a number of schools including Christ Church Foundation School, Lester Vaughan School and The St. Michael School, where the new regulations appeared to have been implemented quite smoothly.

Dr Yvette Mayers, Principal of The St. Michael School revealed that 19 fifth-form students attended the first day of school with the goal of making significant progress with their School-Based Assessments (SBA)s for mainly Technical Drawing.

“Today was our first day. We had a very smooth start and I believe our students are here to finish off their work. So they cooperated quite well,” Mayers told Barbados TODAY.

The head teacher added: “We are trying to ensure that we have 25 students or less on the compound on any one day.The students who still need to complete their SBAs are students in Technical Drawing, Woodwork, Clothing and Textiles and Visual Arts. We also have one student for Chemistry and another for Biology.”

While acknowledging that the extended time away from the classroom might affect the performance of some students, the principal indicated that success in the midst of adversity would depend on the mindset of each child.

“They have been working with the teachers to stay on top of their work, but some students are frustrated with the length of time and others are eager to get back into school at least to finish off their SBAs and CXC exams. Different children have different levels of resilience and therefore, we will wait and see how it impacts their performance,” Dr Mayers said.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb